Tinkerbell protests for workers’ rights

Tinkerbell and Cinderella were arrested earlier this week, in the middle of a protest for workers’ rights. Don’t get too excited: Disney hasn’t come out with an unexpectedly awesome new movie. Instead, a group of Disneyland workers, many in costume, shut down a major thoroughfare in California trying to prevent Disney from taking away their benefits.

The dispute involves about 2,300 maids, bell hops, cooks and dishwashers at three Disney-owned hotels: the Paradise Pier, the Grand Californian and the Disneyland Hotel.
The workers’ contract expired in February and their union says Disney’s latest proposal makes health care unaffordable for hundreds of employees and creates an unfair two-tier wage system. The union also says Disney wants to create a new category of part-time employees who would receive greatly reduced benefits.

Personally, I just like the image of Snow White with a picket sign, chanting slogans and getting hauled away in handcuffs. It’s actually a role model I could get behind, much more than Belle saving an abusive relationship with the Beast or any of the other gender and cultural stereotypes that Disney is well known for (and we’ve posted about them before here and here and here).